Freedom Wings
by Zaphara98
Summary: I was running. My little brother wrapped his hand around my wrist. This was too familiar. I glanced backwards, peering over my wings. Yeah, wings. I'm only 98% human. The rest of me is avian. My name is Kat, and this is my story. (Rated T for violence-thinking of changing the name. Suggestions?)
1. Prologue

**A/N: Some of you may notice that chapters are gone. This is because I wasn't pleased with the story. So, I decided to remake it. Due to school**(Yippee. Hear the joy in my voice. I'm sorry, was that sarcasm?)** and some computer issues**(why won't the darned thing just _load_?!)** and the fact that I'm turning into a perfectionist, the updates might take longer. On the bright side, it should be a better story!**

**Disclaimer: No. I don't own Maximum Ride. I am not middle-aged or male, and I'm not facing the threat of losing my hair.**(Whew)

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My feet pounded the ground as I ran. Beside me was my younger brother, Jay. He cast a frightened glance over his shoulder, tightening his grip on my wrist. I suppressed the urge to look back. I wasn't going to think about the vicious wolf-men chasing us, nor the cages…no. Not going there. I focused on my breathing.

_In, out. In, out._

Jay squeezed my wrist so hard I yelped. He was struggling to keep up. I debated making him fly. He stumbled again, and I scooped him up. We were both panting.

_In, out. In, out._

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up straight. A sudden crunch to my right made Jay jump in my arms. Another crunch came from my left, then from behind me. I broke out of the trees, into a rocky clearing. My feet skidded on some stones and I threw Jay out of my arms.

"Fly!" I yelled at him.

His silvery wings snapped open and he flapped once, twice. He was already many yards in the air when I managed to get my feet underneath me. The ground shook as several Erasers thundered out of the trees. I began stepping back and risked a glance over my shoulder, my eyes widening at the sight of a cliff just behind me. Suddenly I was faced with a decision—straight up, forward, or over the cliff?

Not much of a decision.

I stepped onto the edge of the cliff, feeling the wind begin to yank at my pants and flimsy tank top. One Eraser took a step forward. That sealed my choice. I jumped off of the cliff. The wind whipped my hair up, making it hard to see. Then I snapped my wings open and stopped falling. I jerked up, feeling a familiar pull in my wing muscles as I started flapping. Finally.

Freedom.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: So here it is. Chapter one. I should have the second chapter up soon. Should. No promises, because I'm a procrastinator by nature. Review?**

**Disclaimer: James Patterson does not live in my body. Or my house. Nor am I related to him. So...**

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I woke with a start. My breath came in short, shallow gasps. A sudden thought came to my head. _If only Sam…_I quickly banished it. No use thinking about my other brother. I would get him back someday, and maybe cure the Eraser DNA in him. He would come back. We would be a family again.

"Kat?" Jay's quiet voice drifted down from his perch, a few branches above mine.

"Yeah buddy?" I replied.

"What are we going to do next?"

I thought on that for a couple minutes. "Find a nice abandoned shack and live there. Or build one ourselves. Then we'll find Sam."

"Can't we find Sam first?"

"I think he would rather we came in like commandoes rather than kittens."

Jay chuckled at that. "Night, Kat."

"Night." I leaned against the tree trunk, waiting for my brother to settle down. The tree creaked and sighed in the wind. Or maybe it was Jay that was sighing. One could never tell. I wrapped my arms around my knees and watched the forest.

**(Line break)**

My eyes flew open. I had fallen asleep on watch, dang it. A chunk of brown hair fell in front of my eyes and I brushed it away angrily. How could I be so stupid? I got my feet underneath me as quickly as I could. A few branches crunched under my feet. Sam looked down at me, his green eyes wide.

"Is something wrong?" He asked. I did a quick scan of the surrounding trees.

"Nope. Not that I can see."

"Then come look." He scrambled back up to the top of the tree. I trailed after him, watching carefully for danger. Up on the highest branch he could manage, Jay was pointing at some dark shapes in the sky. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. A smile managed to work its way onto my face.

"That's not danger." I whispered into Jay's ear.

He pointed again. "That is."

I peered at the clumsy shapes that were rapidly approaching. "That's just not fair."

I pushed Jay away.

"Fly!" I ordered. "Now!"

Fright clear on his face Jay scrambled to one of the higher branches and jumped. I caught my breath as he fell past me, then snapped his wings open. The sunlight made his feathers sparkle as if they were jewels. I could see the slight undertone of blue as he pumped his wings hard. The bark seemed to fit naturally in my hands as I went to the highest branch I could manage, then pushed off. My wings, already partly unfurled, opened all the way. I glanced back at our pursuers. Flying _Erasers._ That's just…wrong. Jay dipped down next to me.

"We can beat 'em, right?" He asked.

I looked back at the group in front of us. "Yeah. I think."

**(Max POV)**

By dusk we'd crossed over a chunk of Pennsylvania, and a thin spit of ocean twined below us, between New Jersey and Delaware.

"Look at this, kids, we're learning geography!" Fang called out with mock excitement. Since we'd never been to school, most of what we'd learned was from television or the Internet. And, these days, from the little know-it-all Voice in my head. Soon we'd be over Washington DC. Which was pretty much where my plan stopped. For tonight, all I was worried about was food and a place to sleep. Tomorrow I would have time to study the info we'd gotten from the Institute. I'd been so thrilled when we'd hacked into the Institute's computers. Pages of information about our actual parents had scrolled across the screen. I'd managed to print out a bunch of it before we'd been interrupted. Who knew—by this time tomorrow we might be on someone's doorstep, about to come face-to-face with the parents who had lost us so long ago. It sent shivers down my spine. I was tired. We were all tired. So when I did an automatic 360 and saw a weird dark cloud heading toward us, my groan was deep and sincere.

"Fang! What's that? Behind us, at ten o'clock."

He frowned, checking it out. "Too fast for a storm cloud. Too small, too quiet for choppers. Not birds—too lumpy." He looked at me. "I give up. What is it?"

"Trouble," I said grimly. "Angel! Get out of the way. Guys, heads up! We've got company!"

We swung around to face whatever was coming. Fast!

"Flying monkeys?" The Gasman called out a guess. "Like The Wizard of Oz?" It dawned on me then.

"No," I said tersely. "Worse. Flying Erasers."

Nudge squinted, peering into the distance. "There's something in front of them."

I looked too. Turned out the little chatterbox was right. I spotted a bright flash of gold and a slightly dimmer flash of silvery white. Those weren't birds either. Their shapes became more familiar as they approached.

"Max!" Fang called.

"I know." I replied. They weren't birds. They were bird _kids_.

"Yo, Max!" The larger kid shouted. "Enjoying the fresh air?"

"Kat!" Nudge nearly screamed. She started forward, but Kat made a 'stop' motion. She pointed back at the Erasers.

"That's _so_ not cool!" She complained. "Got a plan?"

_Split up, Max. Think 3-D,_ said my Voice.

"Split up!" I ordered. "Nudge! Gazzy! Nine o'clock! Angle, Jay, up top. Move it! Kat, three o'clock! Iggy and Fang, flank me from below! Fang, ditch the dog!"

"Nooo, Fang!" screeched Angel. Kat, at her position, sent me a wink.

The Erasers slowed as we fanned out, their huge, heavy-looking wings backbeating the air. It was almost pitch-black now, with no moon and no city lights below. I was still able to see their teeth, their pointed fangs, their smiles of excitement. _Th__ey were on a hunt - it was party time!_


End file.
